A real photographer?
May 6, 2022 18:24:31 #
Fear of the Professional mode defeats more amateur photographers than any other setting on their camera.
May 6, 2022 18:27:28 #
RightOnPhotography wrote:
The P mode in the camera stands for Professional. So, the person who shoots in P, is not lying 😊
P stands for pupil.
May 6, 2022 19:31:27 #
Mustang1 wrote:
How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo? Shouldn't he be creating that photo in the camera?
Real photographers don't answer those kinds of questions.....
May 6, 2022 23:49:41 #
I am a professional photographer. I am not an internationally acclaimed genius, I have earned a few credentials and some awards in professional competitions. I have earned an honest living from my work all of my working life and I am still at it. I do portraiture for private individuals and corporations, and nowadays I mostly do commercial and industrial photograhey for the construction and foodservice industries and I am still working. I have many satisfied private and corporate clients. So, I must be doing something right.
Professionalism has nothing to do with any particular process. Professionals are paid based on the results of the work and the accompanying service. The client needs a good print, fille, or finished article on time and does not care how you produced it! Simple! They really don't care how you or I produced it if it was produced in RAW or Jpeg, if it came out of a dark room or a digital computer, or if and how the image was manipulated. Most won't care about your brand of the camera or whether it is mirrorless or a DSLR. All they want, need and are willing to pay for are the results that accommodate their requirements. Most importantly, they assume a professional knows what they are doing and will use the appropriate equipment and processing/finishing methodologies.
If you want my professional opinion on technique or processing, here it is: I learned long ago, from my first mentor and employer, that sloppy shooting and its consequences of having to "re-shoot" every image in the "darkroom" by employing all kids or remedial techniques is not acceptable professional procedure. It is inefficient, time-consuming, antithetical to smooth and timely production and usually yields inferior results. In the film era, careful and precise film processing and custom printing were usually employed to maximize the quality of a properly produced negative. As for the production of transparencies, there was very little that could be don't save a poorly crafted transparency- it had to be pretty well neat and perfect out of the camera. In the final analysis, ALL the images required PROCESSING and some tweaking in the darkroom. Except for Polaroid tests, the finished image did not just fly out of the camera.
For anyone who has experience in a black and white darkroom or a colour lab, understand that there were many different chemicals and processes, all kinds of enlarging and print hardware, various grades of paper, and a plethora of custom printing techniques. All of this was to tweak and control composition, contrast, range, and density, and make various kinds of special effects.
Nowadays, in digital imaging, all of the aforementioned controls and more are all available and at the disposal of the technically minded and creative photograher. The computer hardware and software help us facilitate all of the necessary technical and aesthetic controls. Excellent camera technique is still of the utmost importance. Post-processg is not intended to cover up lousy photography.
Art??? As I previously stated, I am a commercial photograher. Frankly, I know very little about the dynamics and financial aspects of the art market. I studied art, I love art, and I try to do my work in an artful manner but I do not sell my work as "fine art". My images do hang in galleries. I am a hired gun. Point is, that what is good art is defined by the artist and the folks who appreciate, buy, display, and deal in art. It is a matter of taste. In some cases, it is a matter of one person's trash being another person's treasure. I see all kinds of art- I enjoy some of it, I don't understand some of it, I like to emulate some of it, some of it inspires me, and I will reiterate- I really do not understand why some of it is considered art but I will not "sit in judgement" and condemn what I do not understand or personally appreciate.
As for "PROFESSIONALS", some folks call themselves "professional" and they are not! Just because some folks get paid for their work, they may not practice true professionalism. Some folks call themselves "artists" and they are not. Photographers are not licensed like doctors, lawyers, and engineers. If the screw-up, nobody gets sick, dies, goes to jail, or buildings and bridges don't fall down. The real pros and artists manage to hang in over the long term. The charlatans, incompetents, and fakers, eventually fizzle out.
I don't usually bring up politics on this forum but the current U.S. President uses a term I fondly remember from my childhood, "milarchy". All this talks about how everyone has to produce work SOOTC. or only shoot in RAW, or never use automatic modes, or whatever is just that, MILARCHY! If you want to prove, at least to me, that you are a PROFESSIONL or a really good amateur, forget about all the technobabble and show me your portfolio!
Professionalism has nothing to do with any particular process. Professionals are paid based on the results of the work and the accompanying service. The client needs a good print, fille, or finished article on time and does not care how you produced it! Simple! They really don't care how you or I produced it if it was produced in RAW or Jpeg, if it came out of a dark room or a digital computer, or if and how the image was manipulated. Most won't care about your brand of the camera or whether it is mirrorless or a DSLR. All they want, need and are willing to pay for are the results that accommodate their requirements. Most importantly, they assume a professional knows what they are doing and will use the appropriate equipment and processing/finishing methodologies.
If you want my professional opinion on technique or processing, here it is: I learned long ago, from my first mentor and employer, that sloppy shooting and its consequences of having to "re-shoot" every image in the "darkroom" by employing all kids or remedial techniques is not acceptable professional procedure. It is inefficient, time-consuming, antithetical to smooth and timely production and usually yields inferior results. In the film era, careful and precise film processing and custom printing were usually employed to maximize the quality of a properly produced negative. As for the production of transparencies, there was very little that could be don't save a poorly crafted transparency- it had to be pretty well neat and perfect out of the camera. In the final analysis, ALL the images required PROCESSING and some tweaking in the darkroom. Except for Polaroid tests, the finished image did not just fly out of the camera.
For anyone who has experience in a black and white darkroom or a colour lab, understand that there were many different chemicals and processes, all kinds of enlarging and print hardware, various grades of paper, and a plethora of custom printing techniques. All of this was to tweak and control composition, contrast, range, and density, and make various kinds of special effects.
Nowadays, in digital imaging, all of the aforementioned controls and more are all available and at the disposal of the technically minded and creative photograher. The computer hardware and software help us facilitate all of the necessary technical and aesthetic controls. Excellent camera technique is still of the utmost importance. Post-processg is not intended to cover up lousy photography.
Art??? As I previously stated, I am a commercial photograher. Frankly, I know very little about the dynamics and financial aspects of the art market. I studied art, I love art, and I try to do my work in an artful manner but I do not sell my work as "fine art". My images do hang in galleries. I am a hired gun. Point is, that what is good art is defined by the artist and the folks who appreciate, buy, display, and deal in art. It is a matter of taste. In some cases, it is a matter of one person's trash being another person's treasure. I see all kinds of art- I enjoy some of it, I don't understand some of it, I like to emulate some of it, some of it inspires me, and I will reiterate- I really do not understand why some of it is considered art but I will not "sit in judgement" and condemn what I do not understand or personally appreciate.
As for "PROFESSIONALS", some folks call themselves "professional" and they are not! Just because some folks get paid for their work, they may not practice true professionalism. Some folks call themselves "artists" and they are not. Photographers are not licensed like doctors, lawyers, and engineers. If the screw-up, nobody gets sick, dies, goes to jail, or buildings and bridges don't fall down. The real pros and artists manage to hang in over the long term. The charlatans, incompetents, and fakers, eventually fizzle out.
I don't usually bring up politics on this forum but the current U.S. President uses a term I fondly remember from my childhood, "milarchy". All this talks about how everyone has to produce work SOOTC. or only shoot in RAW, or never use automatic modes, or whatever is just that, MILARCHY! If you want to prove, at least to me, that you are a PROFESSIONL or a really good amateur, forget about all the technobabble and show me your portfolio!
May 7, 2022 00:24:36 #
mwsilvers
Loc: Central New Jersey
Mustang1 wrote:
How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo? Shouldn't he be creating that photo in the camera?
Silly premise without specifics or real value. A poor photographer who takes mediocre images can't save them in PhotoShop. The purpose of PhotoShop is to make good images great, not to rescue poor images. You sound like a SOOC jpeg troll who is trying to justify your opposition to post processing.
May 7, 2022 05:23:23 #
cmc4214
Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania
rook2c4 wrote:
There are many photographers who, by definition, qualify as professional but don't really know what they are doing. This is more true now than decades ago.
That is true of many "professionals" in all vocations.
May 7, 2022 06:06:04 #
I am in agreement with Gene. Moriyama, a name new to me, from what I have seen is a great street photographer and if his photographs sell for $1000 and are taken with a point and shoot style there must be a reason.
Art comes in many forms. Perhaps what you call "blurred" is part of the art and in simple terms panning is a technique used by many photographers when they want to introduce blur on purpose. The same as underexposure, using overexposed images like in high key, is another means of portraying art.
Shooting Auto or Program is simply convenient and a good way, in the case of street photography, to get the shot. Events in street photography are happening pretty fast and the photographer does not have the time to compose or set an exposure. If he does, by the time he takes or tries to take the picture it is too late. P in Program DOES NOT MEAN professional as Mr. Rockwell pretends others to believe. The majority of professionals use Aperture Priority or the Manual Mode.
As I said, when it comes to art you will find it in many forms.
Art comes in many forms. Perhaps what you call "blurred" is part of the art and in simple terms panning is a technique used by many photographers when they want to introduce blur on purpose. The same as underexposure, using overexposed images like in high key, is another means of portraying art.
Shooting Auto or Program is simply convenient and a good way, in the case of street photography, to get the shot. Events in street photography are happening pretty fast and the photographer does not have the time to compose or set an exposure. If he does, by the time he takes or tries to take the picture it is too late. P in Program DOES NOT MEAN professional as Mr. Rockwell pretends others to believe. The majority of professionals use Aperture Priority or the Manual Mode.
As I said, when it comes to art you will find it in many forms.
May 7, 2022 06:16:39 #
If he / she earns a living from it they're a Professional. No matter the quality of the output.
May 7, 2022 06:23:28 #
May 7, 2022 06:45:20 #
May 7, 2022 07:08:40 #
Mustang1 wrote:
How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo? Shouldn't he be creating that photo in the camera?
Those are called art shots and sell for far more than the razor sharp sterile photos amateurs shoot.
May 7, 2022 07:12:33 #
May 7, 2022 07:42:17 #
Mustang1 wrote:
How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo? Shouldn't he be creating that photo in the camera?
Your premise isn't valid - the straw man you created when posing this question doesn't exist.
May 7, 2022 08:01:54 #
When a photographer is hired, the customer wants to see their work/portfolio. They are not interested if the photos were captured with a Hasselblad or a Kodak Instamatic, shot in manual or auto. The portfolio provides all the information needed for the hiring decision.
May 7, 2022 08:34:29 #
Mustang1 wrote:
How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo? Shouldn't he be creating that photo in the camera?
…why limit anyones creativity by putting a box around it or a label on it…?
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